50 Simple Fall Crafts for Kids to Celebrate the Changing Season
These autumn arts and crafts are perfect for toddlers and kids of all ages to make right at home!
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When the leaves begin to change and the air becomes cool, it's time to start brainstorming fall crafts for kids. Make your own sunflowers, apples, scarecrows and fall trees, whether you and the kids scour the backyard for dried leaves, acorns and sticks or rely on crafting essentials, like construction paper and pipe cleaners. These easy crafts are great for toddlers, kids and tweens to try at home or school (although adults will love these creative ideas, too).
You and your little ones can turn paper plates into pumpkins or dried leaves into ghosts, if you're hunting for a simple Halloween craft idea. Celebrate Turkey Day early with Thanksgiving projects, like turkey balloons, beaded corn cobs or paper bag scarecrows. Inspire kiddos to flex their creativity and imagination, whether they're drawing silly faces on leaves, constructing paper apples or tracing their handprints for sunflower petals.
While some projects may require adult supervision (like manning the hot glue gun during leaf crafts), these arts and crafts projects are intended just for kids. The best part? Most of these cool fall DIYs require only a few supplies — in fact, you can find most of what you need in nature!
Beaded Corn Cobs
Kids, young and old, will enjoy threading colorful beans onto brown piper cleaners. Help younger kids fold the spokes up and twist to form the corn husk.
Turkey Balloons
Help kiddos glue feathers, a paper nose and googly eyes on a inflated balloon. The end result is an adorable turkey that will, hopefully, provide hours of entertainment.
Fall Bean Mosaics
Once they cut and paint their leaves, children can create a mosaic with dried beans. Gather a mix of lentils, red beans and split peas for color variety.
Paper Plate Pumpkin
This easy craft involves painting, cutting and gluing that most ages can handle. Add a few dried pumpkin seeds to bring your paper plate pumpkin to life!
Paper Bag Scarecrow
You have everything needed to recreate this friendly scarecrow. Start with a brown paper bag, then cut out accessories from construction paper. Added bonus? This blogger includes a pattern for the hat.
Paper Plate Sunflower
These sunflower paper plates make cheery decor for fall. Little ones can create these flowers by turning a paper plate into the center, then using the shape of their handprints as petals.
Leaf People
Not only will your kids love collecting leaves from the backyard, but they'll giggle as they assign each one a facial expression.
Pumpkin Animals
Believe it or not, it's not hard to make these adorable creatures. Gather leaves, acorns, nuts and sunflower seeds to transform pumpkins into your not-so-furry friends.
RELATED: Best Pumpkin Decorating Ideas That Require No Carving at All
Coffee Can Scarecrow
Don't throw away your coffee cans just yet! Use them to make these festive scarecrows. A straw hat, button eyes and rope for the smile will finish your new friend's look.
Leaf Cake Toppers
Minimal materials are needed for these leaf cake toppers. Your future baker can help DIY these treat decorations with paper, paint and twigs.
Turkey Windsocks
DIY your own flock of turkeys with a tin can and googly eyes! Then, customize them with ribbons and feathers.
Pumpkin Stress Balls
After filling orange balloons with rice, use a black Sharpie to draw fun and silly faces for these stress-relieving pumpkin balls. Whenever your child is anxious, they can give the balls a squeeze.
Pumpkin Pie
We're pretty sure this paper pumpkin pie might have them craving the real thing! They'll need a large paper plate, cardstock and orange tissue paper for this craft. Use cotton balls for the whipped cream.
Leaf Lion
Use leaves for the lion's mane and brown paper for the head. After that, draw the lion's nose, eyes and face with a black marker or charcoal pencil.
Apple Tree
This cute apple tree requires just a few basic materials: a paper plate, green tissue paper and glue. It can even include your child's handprint for a personal touch!
Leaf Finger Puppets
During playtime at the park, kids can pick up pebbles, leaves and rocks to make leaf finger puppets. Don't forget the googly eyes.
Craft Stick Scarecrow
This scarecrow project is great to keep in mind for a rainy day, since you probably have all the materials you need for it lying around in your art drawer. And yet, he looks so cute when he's finished!
Sponge Stamp Tree
Instead of painting their own leaves, they can have fun stamping them! Show your little ones how to trace simple leaf shapes onto sponges. Cut the shapes out, then let them press their leaf sponges onto paper and their tree drawing.
Spray Painted Fall Leaf Art
Let the leaves be your silhouettes. Tape them to paper with masking tape before spray painting your colors all around them. Then, voila! You have art worth framing for fall!
Puffy Painted Leaves
Use the leaves as art prints or deck them out yourself with puffy paint. Think rainbows, hearts and stars, but in 3D.
Mariah Thomas (she/her) is an assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle content. Mariah has more than four years of editorial experience, having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women's Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master's degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts and Emotions, in 2019. She's also the founder of RTF Community, a platform for creatives of color to connect, learn and showcase their work.
Alyssa Gautieri (she/her) is the associate lifestyle editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers all things home and interior design. Prior to joining GH in 2022, she wrote for publications including ELLE Decor, Chairish, BobVila.com, Unique Homes Magazine and LODGING Magazine, in addition to crafting product copy for home brands like BrylaneHome and VIGO Industries.
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